This meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15 at the Mahogany Room, 2nd Floor, Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, One Monarch Place, Springfield.

This study and this project are not to be confused with the ongoing $183.3 million project to rehabilitate about 2 miles of elevated highway built in the 1960s with a new deck.

Crews are currently prepping the highway and the neighborhood for traffic changes associated with that $183.3 million project. Major lane shutdowns are expected to begin in the next few weeks.

A public meeting on the in-progress construction is set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on today, Tuesday, Dec. 8 in the auditorium at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

MassDOT has responded repeatedly to questions of why there are two I-91 projects, one short-term and one long-term, going on at the same time. Transport planners have said the deck is deteriorating rapidly and needs to be replaced. But a long-term re-imaging of the highway and its path through the city might take 20 years to accomplish.

On the Dec. 15, the project team will present an overview of the study area; goals, objectives, and evaluation criteria; role of the working group; existing conditions data collection and project opportunities and constraints. The public is encouraged to attend to learn more about the study and provide feedback.

Possibilities include rebuilding much of the highway in a tunnel or in a sunken trench to remove the viaduct as a barrier between Springfield's downtown and the Connecticut River.